Donk Industries commissions first cobot

A new colleague you'll never see in the cafeteria

A very large proportion of the awnings sold in the Netherlands contain aluminum components from Lopik. In fact, Donk Industries BV, located there, has been supplying manufacturers of blinds with aluminum semi-finished products for decades. Donk has a huge market share in the blinds industry. Conversely, the blinds industry is only one of many customers for Donk Industries BV. In fact, the company is big in producing aluminum semi-finished products, which find their way to various industries and all over the world.

To optimize production, Donk Industries BV has been using robots for some time, says Jaap Zentveld, assistant production manager at the company. "We have been running robots at the foundry for years, in our case models of the ABB brand. They are traditional, large robots, which ensure that repetitive work is done efficiently and safely. However, these robots do work shielded from our human employees, not least because they are enormously strong and unstoppable." 

The cobot has made its appearance
Recently, Donk Industries BV invested in a new type of robot. It concerns a so-called cobot. The difference between a robot and a cobot is that the latter is allowed to work in an environment where people work. "A cobot is designed to function alongside humans as a robotic colleague," Zentveld explains. "Safety is ensured in two ways. First, the periphery around the cobot is constantly scanned for the presence of humans. If they get too close, the cobot will slow down or even stop working altogether. Another safeguard is provided by the sensors at the cobot's disposal: any unauthorized touch is detected and immediately results in shutdown." 

How did the choice of a cobot come about? "Donk had a desire to automate the loading and unloading of the CNC milling machine," Zentveld explains. "We knew there was no room for a large robot, so we sought advice on cobots. Olmia Robotics gave us sound advice, resulting in a cobot along with a RoboBooster loading system. With a filled tray, the cobot can run for five consecutive hours, continuously. Because it can be safely worked alongside and with, employees can refill the drawers while the machine is in operation." 

No threat to employment
The first thought that comes to people when they hear the word robot is job loss. Some personnel at Donk Industries BV also feared for their jobs with the introduction of robots and the cobot. Zentveld explains that, however, there is no question of any threat. "Keep in mind that we have been struggling with staff shortages for years. We are running out of technicians for technically repetitive work. A robot - or in this case a cobot - does its repetitive tasks without grumbling, for as long as you want and it effortlessly runs overtime. You won't run into him in the cafeteria, either, and he's never sick. That way, it frees up time for our employees to do other meaningful work. We are currently experiencing a good example of this. One of our employees is taking a technical course within the Apprenticeship program. Until now, she was constantly busy refilling the CNC milling machine. Now she only has to refill the tray of the cobot once every five hours. The rest of the time is available to the drawing room, where she now makes technical drawings for new fixture jigs. So our employees now have time to focus on product optimization and quality, and that's much more fun!" 

Industry 4.0* looks around the corner
"Our robots and cobot are a first step towards Industry 4.0 for Donk Industries BV," concludes Zentveld. "Now they are still powered standalone with data, but in the future control will be done directly from our ERP system. Over the next few years we will be looking at what else we can automate. A first step we will take this year by purchasing a second cobot for another CNC milling machine." 

How about the awning parts? Whether those have already gone through the Cobot's grippers? "Right now we're hard at work implementing a program for awning parts," laughs Zentveld. "We are developing the grippers for it ourselves! So soon there will be blinds hanging on the facade that were partly made by a cobot!" 

* Industry 4.0 or also known as Smart Industry is the name for a trend of automation and data sharing used in industrial manufacturing techniques.